Ten Year Triumph!
Having made her theatrical début the year before, Lyn Paul continues to star in the West End production of Blood Brothers. On 20th April she dashes down to Brighton to rescue the touring production of the show, where Bernie Nolan, who is several months pregnant, finds herself too unwell to go on stage.
In June Lyn takes part in the 9th Walk For Life to raise money for the UK HIV and AIDS charity CRUSAID.
On 28th July the West End production of Blood Brothers celebrates its 10th anniversary. Lyn Paul receives more rave reviews.
"Lyn Paul sings Tell Me It's Not True and Easy Terms with winning simplicity and sustained melodiousness, yet also a mournful cracking in her smoky voice." Daily Telegraph
"Miss Paul is terrific" Herald
"Lyn Paul... brings a terrific nasal plangency to the hit number "Tell Me It's Not True" and, at the end, stripped of make-up and with flattened hair, she is transformed into an unforgettable image of maternal lamentation." Independent
"If you haven't seen the show it's a must; if you're one of the many already word-perfect, Lyn Paul is a fine excuse to see it again." Mail On Sunday
"She is perfect in the part" Musical Stages
"Lyn Paul once taught the world to sing with the New Seekers; to her richly powerful voice, Blood Brothers' current incarnation owes much of its success." Observer
"Fine performances from Andy Snowden as Mickey and Lyn Paul as his mother" Sunday Telegraph
"Lyn Paul, former New Seekers chanteuse, delivers a poignant Mrs. J." What's On
"Her highly emotional performance is memorable." The Stage
Pictured above:
Lyn Paul, Willy Russell and Kiki Dee
at the Blood Brothers
10th anniversary celebrations.
 
On 22nd August Lyn Paul is featured on the front page of the Weekly News. Pictured with her husband, Lyn appears under the headline: "Lyn bounced back from bankruptcy nightmare". Inside, a two-page interview tells how the "former New Seekers singer reached her lowest point - but is now a West End star". Asked about acting for the first time, Lyn says:
"I'm very lucky, because in 'Blood Brothers' I'm playing a mother from northern England, who has financial difficulties. I'm basically playing me." (Weekly News, 22nd August 1998, page 16)
Phoenix Theatre [map]
Charing Cross Road
London
WC2H 0JP
In October Lyn and the cast of Blood Brothers join Lesley Garrett, Siobhan McCarthy and Con O'Neil at the Café Royal for a charity gala evening in aid of the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. The evening is notable in marking the cabaret début of former world boxing champion, Barry McGuigan.
At the beginning of December Lyn travels up to Liverpool, where she spends a fortnight in Blood Brothers at the Empire Theatre. Heralded in the Liverpool Echo as "the home-town return of Willy Russell's world acclaimed musical", the production in general and Lyn in particular get a thumbs up from local critic Joe Riley:
"I was particularly drawn to the way Ms. Paul combines radiance and good humour with the ultimate and overwhelming sense of grief." (Liverpool Echo, 2nd December 1998, page 15)
With Lyn's name back in the limelight, Spectrum Music repackage and re-release a CD which had first appeared in the shops in 1996 as The World of the New Seekers. Now titled The Very Best of the New Seekers, the CD features Lyn singing the lead vocal on three of the tracks.
In Germany, Mercury release a 24-track CD of the New Seekers' Greatest Hits. For collectors this is a "must have" as it features Lyn singing Beg, Steal Or Borrow in German.
Incidentally
On Wednesday, 14th January, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, the Ballroom Dancers' Federation present Ross Mitchell with the highly acclaimed B.D.F. Music Award. In the 1960s Lyn Paul had worked with Ross as a member of his group The Nocturnes. Although The Nocturnes never quite made it, the group later gained significance, having brought together in the same line-up the two women (Lyn Paul and Eve Graham) who found fame as members of the New Seekers (Eve had also recorded with Ross as part of a group called The Track). Ross became involved with the world of ballroom dancing in the 1980s, performing and recording as Ross Mitchell, His Band And Singers. He and his wife Cindy also run and control Dance And Listen Limited, supplying Ballroom Dance music to dancers in over forty countries.
| In the News - 1998 |
| |
|
| Jan |
Sonny Bono is killed in a skiing accident at a resort near Lake Tahoe on 5th January.
Carl Perkins, famous for his hit song Blue Suede Shoes, dies from a stroke on 19th January, aged 65.
On 21st January Pope John Paul II begins a five day visit to Cuba.
Monica Lewinsky hits the headlines. Meanwhile on Monday, 26th January US President Bill Clinton tells television viewers that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman".
Paul Simon's musical The Capeman, co-written with Derek Walcott, opens at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway on 29th January. It closes after 10 weeks.
|
| Feb |
A Cebu Pacific McDonnell Douglas DC-9 (Flight 387 from Manila) crashes into Mount Sumagaya in the southern Philippines on 2nd February, killing all 104 of the passengers and crew on board.
20 people travelling in a cable car are killed at the Mount Cermis ski resort on Tuesday, 3rd February, when a low-flying NATO jet fighter hits and severs the cable car line. The American pilot, Richard Ashby, is later jailed for six months.
The Austrian singer Falco, who had a chart-topping hit in 1986 with Rock Me Amadeus, is killed in a car crash on 6th February, aged 40.
Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys dies of lung cancer on the same day, aged 51.
The Angel of the North, a sculpture by Antony Gormley, is officially unveiled in Gateshead on Monday, 16th February.
On the same day a China Airlines Airbus A-300 (Flight CAL676 / CI676 from Bali, Indonesia) crashes near Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport while trying to land in fog and rain. All 196 on board and seven people on ground are killed.
On 24th February Elton John receives a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. Two days later he is awarded a Grammy for Candle In The Wind 97, his tribute song to Diana, Princess of Wales.
|
| Mar |
Pro-hunting campaigners march through central London on 1st March.
Judge Dread (Alex Hughes), whose '70s hits were too rude for the radio, dies on 13th March, aged 52, after collapsing on stage in Canterbury.
Titanic wins 11 Oscars, including the Oscar for Best Picture at the 70th Academy Awards ceremony on 23rd March.
On 27th March Queen Elizabeth II pays her first official visit to a pub when she meets the regulars at the Bridge Inn, Topsham.
On the same day the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence.
|
| Apr |
On 2nd April the former French cabinet minister Maurice Papon is sentenced to 10 years in jail for his part in deporting Jews from France during World War II.
Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli dies of a drug overdose on 2nd April, aged 32.
Tammy Wynette, best known for her hit Stand By Your Man, dies on 6th April, aged 55.
On Tuesday, 7th April George Michael is arrested on a charge of "lewd conduct" in a public lavatory in the Will Rogers Memorial Park, Los Angeles.
On 8th and 9th April a slow-moving depression brings torrential rain to eastern Wales and the middle counties of England. The Easter floods cause millions of pounds worth of damage with more than 4,200 properties affected.
On 10th April the Irish and UK governments sign the historic Good Friday Agreement with the leaders of the political parties of Northern Ireland.
Pol Pot dies in his jungle hideout on 15th April, aged 72.
Linda McCartney dies of cancer on 17th April, aged 56.
|
| May |
The former Norwich City and Nottingham Forest footballer, Justin Fashanu, is found dead in a lock-up garage in east London on Saturday, 2nd May.
'Unabomber' Theodore Kaczynski is jailed for life on 4th May for an 18-year bombing campaign, during which he mailed 16 bombs, killing three people and injuring twenty-eight others.
Israel wins the Eurovision Song Contest held in Birmingham on Saturday, 9th May - represented by Dana International, the first openly transgender performer to enter the competition. Her winning song, Diva, beats the UK entry (Where Are You? by Imaani) into second place by just six points. It is the UK's fifteenth finish as runner-up.
On 11th May the Indian government announces that it has carried out a series of underground nuclear tests. Two weeks later Pakistan explodes five underground nuclear devices.
Frank Sinatra dies on 15th May, aged 82.
On 17th May Bob Hope receives an honorary Knighthood at the British Embassy in Washington. When the news of his Knighthood first reached him in February Hope quipped: "I'm speechless. Seventy years of ad lib material and I'm speechless."
Irish voters on both sides of the border give their backing to the Good Friday Agreement in a referendum held on 22nd May. 75% vote in favour of the agreement.
On 28th May, a fortnight after nuclear tests by India, Pakistan detonates five underground nuclear devices in the Ras Koh Hills.
The first 'National Sorry Day' is held in Australia on 26th May, to apologise to the thousands of indigenous children who had been taken from their families between 1909 and 1969.
On 31st May Geri Halliwell, aka 'Ginger Spice', announces that she is leaving the Spice Girls.
|
| June |
Terry Nichols is jailed for life on 4th June for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing of April 1995.
On 10th June the European Commission recommends that the two-year ban on the export of British beef be lifted.
On 11th June the United Nations declares an official famine in Sudan.
On 25th June elections are held for the new Northern Ireland Assembly.
|
| July |
The newly elected Northern Ireland Assembly meets for the first time on 1st July.
Hong Kong International Airport, located on the island of Chek Lap Kok, opens for business on 6th July. At the time it opened the new airport had the largest passenger terminal building in the world.
The 60-year-old leader of the opposition in Nigeria, Chief Moshood Abiola, who had been in custody since 1994, dies on 7th July. His death sparks four days of rioting in Lagos. On 12th July an internationally monitored post-mortem confirms that he had died of natural causes.
In Ballymoney, Northern Ireland three Catholic children are killed on 12th July, when a petrol bomb is thrown through a window at their home on the predominantly Protestant Carnany estate.
On his 80th birthday (18th July), the South African President Nelson Mandela marries his third wife, Graca Machel, the widow of Samora Machel, the first President of Mozambique.
On the same day Papua New Guinea is hit by a tsunami. 8,000 people are killed.
On 31st July the British Government announces a total ban on the use of landmines.
|
| Aug |
An estimated 250,000 athletes gather in Amsterdam for the 5th International Gay Games, which take place between 1st - 8th August. It is the first time that the Gay Games have been held in Europe.
On Friday, 7th August bombs explode within minutes of each other at the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. More than 200 people are killed. The USA retaliates by bombing targets in Afghanistan and Sudan.
On 15th August a 500lb car bomb kills 29 people and injures many more in Omagh, Northern Ireland.
In a televised address on Monday, 17th August US President Bill Clinton admits that he had had an affair with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
|
| Sep |
Prince Harry, accompanied by his father Prince Charles, starts school at Eton on 2nd September.
On 2nd September a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (Flight 111 from New York to Geneva) crashes off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 of the passengers and crew on board.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two college students at Stanford University, found the Internet search engine Google on 4th September.
The Starr Report is published on Friday, 11th September. It lists 11 "possible grounds" for impeaching US President Bill Clinton.
On 15th September the European Commission approves the impotency drug Viagra for immediate sale in the European Union. In the UK Health Secretary Frank Dobson announces that Viagra will only be available on private prescription. It will not be made available on the National Health Service on the grounds of cost.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is created on 18th September.
The fatwa imposed on author Salman Rushdie following the publication of his book The Satanic Verses is lifted on 24th September.
On Sunday, 27th September, after 16 years in power, Chancellor Helmut Kohl is defeated in the German general election. Social Democrat leader Gerhard Schröder replaces him as Chancellor.
On 29th September the Crown Prosecution Service drops obscenity charges brought against the University of Central England over a library book on the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
|
| Oct |
Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, is arrested in London on 16th October, following a request from Spain for his extradition to face charges of murder and torture.
Hurricane Mitch forms in the western Caribbean Sea on 22nd October. It hits Honduras a week later and moves through Central America, leaving thousands of people dead and tens of thousands homeless.
On 26th October Welsh Secretary Ron Davies has a "moment of madness" on Clapham Common, which leads to him being robbed at knifepoint and to his resignation from the government the next day.
On 28th October the former Conservative MP Matthew Parris sets the cat among the pigeons when he "outs" the Trade and Industry Secretary during an interview about Ron Davies' resignation. Speaking to Jeremy Paxman on the BBC current affairs programme Newsnight, he says: "Peter Mandelson is certainly gay." The BBC bans all further mention of Mr. Mandelson's private life.
The English poet Ted Hughes dies of cancer on 28th October, aged 68.
On 29th October, at age 77, US Senator John Glenn becomes the oldest person in space, when he and six other astronauts begin a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery.
|
| Nov |
On 7th November the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Nick Brown, is forced into telling the press that he is gay, after a former partner sells a 'kiss-and-tell' story about their relationship to the News of the World.
The Human Rights Act 1998 receives Royal Assent on 9th November, removing the last remaining provisions for the death penalty in the UK.
US Vice President Al Gore symbolically signs the Kyoto Protocol on 12th November but the treaty is not passed to the US Senate for ratification. On 25th July 1997 the Senate had passed the Byrd–Hagel Resolution, which stated that the US should not sign a climate treaty that "would seriously harm the economy of the United States" and also did not require developing countries to make emission reductions.
On 19th November Vincent van Gogh's Portrait de l'Artiste Sans Barbe is sold at Christie's in New York for $65,000,000.
On 23rd November a meeting in Brussels of European Union agriculture ministers votes to lift the worldwide ban on the export of British beef.
On 26th November Tony Blair becomes the first British Prime Minister ever to address the joint Houses of the Oireachtas, the Republic of Ireland's parliament. In his speech, he says: "I want to forge new bonds with Dublin. Together we can have a stronger voice in Europe and work to shape its future in a way which suits all our people."
|
| Dec |
In Oslo on 10th December the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to John Hume and David Trimble for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
NASA launches the Mars Climate Orbiter space probe on 11th December.
On the same day a Thai Airways International Airbus A-310 (Flight TG261 / THA261 from Bangkok) crashes during its third attempt to land at Surat Thani International Airport, Thailand, killing 101 people.
On 23rd December Peter Mandelson resigns as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, following the revelation that he purchased his Notting Hill home using a £373,000 loan from the Paymaster General, Geoffrey Robinson.
The Spice Girls make it three Christmas number 1s in a row when Goodbye tops the UK singles charts on 26th December.
Six people are killed on 29th December when the Sydney to Hobart yacht race is hit by heavy storms.
Johnny Moore, lead singer with The Drifters, dies on 30th December, aged 64.
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| In the Charts |
| |
UK Chart débuts |
|
- Melanie B
- Black Eyed Peas
- Melanie C
- Destiny's Child
- LeAnn Rimes
- Shania Twain
- Usher
- Vengaboys
|
| UK Best-selling Singles |
|
- Ace Of Base
Life Is A Flower
- Bryan Adams
featuring Melanie C
When You're Gone
- Aerosmith
I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
- All Saints
Bootie Call
- All Saints
Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade
- Another Level
Freak Me
- Aqua
Dr. Jones
- Aqua
Turn Back Time
(from the film 'Sliding Doors')
- Melanie B featuring
Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott
I Want You Back
- B*Witched
C'est La Vie
- B*Witched
Rollercoaster
- Beautiful South
Perfect 10
- Baddiel and Skinner and The Lightning Seeds
Three Lions '98
- Billie
Because We Want To
- Billie
Girlfriend
- Boyzone
All That I Need
- Boyzone
No Matter What
- Brandy and Monica
The Boy Is Mine
- Catatonia
Road Rage
- Cher
Believe
- Chumbawamba
Amnesia
- Cornershop
Brimful Of Asha
- The Corrs
Dreams
- The Corrs
So Young
- The Corrs
What Can I Do
(Tin Tin Out Remix)
- Culture Club
I Just Wanna Be Loved
- Dana International
Diva [Eurovision Song Contest Winner]
- Celine Dion
My Heart Will Go On
- Emilia
Big Big World
- Fat Les
Vindaloo
- Five
Everybody Get Up
- Five
When The Lights Go Out
- Faith Hill
The Kiss
- Honeyz
Finally Found
- Jamiroquai
Deeper Underground
- Madonna
Ray Of Light
- Manic Street Preachers
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
- Mavericks
Dance The Night Away
- George Michael
Outside
- 911
More Than A Woman
- Oasis
All Around The World
- Jennifer Paige
Crush
- Pras featuring ODB and introducing Mya
Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)
- Puff Daddy
featuring Jimmy Page
Come With Me (from the film 'Godzilla')
- LeAnn Rimes
How Do I Live
- Run-D.M.C. vs. Jason Nevins
It's Like That
- Sash!
La Primavera
- Sash! featuring Tina Cousins
Mysterious Times
- Savage Garden
I Want You '98
- Savage Garden
Truly Madly Deeply
- Vonda Shepard
Searchin' My Soul
(Theme from Ally McBeal)
- Simply Red
Say You Love Me
- Will Smith
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
- Will Smith
Just The Two Of Us
- Will Smith
Miami
- Space with Cerys of Catatonia
The Ballad Of Tom Jones
- Spice Girls
Stop
- Spice Girls
Too Much
- Spice Girls
Viva Forever
- Steps
Heartbeat / Tragedy
- Steps
One For Sorrow
- Stereophonics
The Bartender And The Thief
- Tamperer featuring Maya
Feel It
- Tin Tin Out
featuring Shelley Nelson
Here's Where The Story Ends
- Shania Twain
From This Moment On
- Shania Twain
You're Still The One
- Usher
You Make Me Wanna...
- Vengaboys
Up and Down
- Robbie Williams
Let Me Entertain You
- Robbie Williams
Millennium
|
|
One Hit Wonders |
| |
- Cast from Casualty
Everlasting Love
- Denise and Johnny
Especially For You
- 4 The Cause
Stand By Me
- Jane McDonald
Cruise Into Christmas Medley
|
| Hit Albums |
|
- Beautiful South
Quench
- Boyzone
Where We Belong
- Eva Cassidy
Songbird
- Catatonia
International Velvet
- The Corrs
Talk On Corners
- Dixie Chicks
Wide Open Spaces
- Garbage
Version 2.0
- Nanci Griffith
Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back To Bountiful)
- Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt and Dolly Parton
Trio II
- Sinéad Lohan
No Mermaid
- Nick Lowe
Dig My Mood
- Madonna
Ray Of Light
- Manic Street Preachers
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
- Massive Attack
Mezzanine
- The Mavericks
Trampoline
- George Michael
Ladies And Gentlemen - The Best Of George Michael
- Olivia Newton-John
Back With A Heart
- Dolly Parton
Hungry Again
- Pulp
This Is Hardcore
- Savage Garden
Savage Garden
- Simply Red
Blue
- Various Artists
A Song for Eurotrash
- Lucinda Williams
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
- Robbie Williams
I've Been Expecting You
|
|
|
| At the Movies |
| |
| |
- Antz
- Deep Impact
- Doctor Dolittle
- Good Will Hunting
- Life Is Beautiful
- Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
- Lost In Space
- The Object Of My Affection
- The Opposite Of Sex
- Primary Colors
- Saving Private Ryan
- Sliding Doors
- Titanic
- There's Something About Mary
- The Truman Show
- The Wedding Singer
- The X-Files Movie
|
|
| On Stage |
| |
Tony Award for Best Musical:
The Lion King
Olivier Award
for Best New Musical:
Beauty And The Beast
|
|
| On Television |
| |
| |
- Ally McBeal
- Ambassador
- Blankety Blank
with Lily Savage
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer
- Cold Feet
- Dinnerladies
- Goodness Gracious Me
- Have I Got News For You (Series 15 and 16)
- The Liver Birds
(Series 10)
- More Tales Of The City
- Robot Wars
- The Royle Family
(Series 1)
- Talking Heads 2
- The Unique Dave Allen
- Watercolour Challenge
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
|
|
| Sporting Heroes |
| |
BBC Sport
BBC
Sports Personality
of the Year:
Michael Owen
|
Darts: Phil Taylor wins the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship for the fourth time, beating Dennis Priestley in the final (6-0) of for the third year in a row.
Raymond van Barneveld wins the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Darts Championship.
Rugby Union: France are the Grand Slam winners of the Five Nations Championship for the second year in a row.
Rowing: the University of Cambridge crew wins the annual Boat Race against Oxford by three lengths.
Horse Racing: Earth Summit, ridden by Carl Llewellyn, wins the Grand National.
Kayf Tara, ridden by Frankie Dettori, wins the Ascot Gold Cup.
Snooker: Ken Doherty loses his title as World Snooker Champion to John Higgins (18-12). Higgins also wins the UK Championship, beating Mark Stevens 10-6 in the final.
Golf: Mark O'Meara wins the 62nd US Masters at Augusta. He sinks a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Fred Couples and David Duval by 1 stroke.
Lee Janzen wins the US Open for a second time.
Football: Arsenal win the Premier League Championship and the FA Cup.
Chelsea win the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Stuttgart 1-0 in the final.
France beat Brazil 3-0 in the final of the World Cup. England lose to Argentina in the Quarter Finals.
Cycling: Marco Pantani wins the Tour de France.
Tennis: Having twice finished runner-up, Jana Novotna wins the women's singles title at Wimbledon. Novotna beats Natalie Tauziat in the final in straight sets (6-4, 7-6).
There is no such luck for Goran Ivanisevic who is beaten in the men's singles final by Pete Sampras. It is the third time that Ivanisevic has lost in the final and the fifth time that Sampras has been the Champion.
At the US Open Pat Rafter retains the men's singles title, beating fellow Australian Mark Philipoussis in the final. Martina Hingis loses her women's title to Lindsay Davenport.
Athletics: In June Haile Gebreselassie sets new World Records in the men's 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres events.
On 14th July Hicham El Guerrouj sets a new World Record of 3:26.00 in the men's 1500 metres.
Cricket: England win the Fifth Test against South Africa to take the series 2-1 with two Tests drawn. It is the first time England have won a Test series since 1986.
Motor Racing: Mika Häkkinen wins the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship for the first time.
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| Page-turners |
| |
Man Booker Prize
Winner:
Ian McEwan
Amsterdam
Beryl Bainbridge
Master George
Julian Barnes
England England
Martin Booth
The Industry Of Souls
Patrick McCabe
Breakfast On Pluto
Magnus Mills
The Restraint Of Beasts
Orange Prize
for Fiction
Winner:
Carol Shields
Larry's Party
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